Comedy

Smashing Time

- Two Girls Go Stark Mod!

Two young women arrive in London to make it big in show business, and become corrupted by money and fame in the process.

Release Date : 1967-12-20

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Paramount Pictures

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Brenda

Original Name : Rita Tushingham

Gender : Female

Character Name : Yvonne

Original Name : Lynn Redgrave

Gender : Female

Character Name : Tom Wabe

Original Name : Michael York

Gender : Male

Character Name : Charlotte Brillig

Original Name : Anna Quayle

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mrs Gimble

Original Name : Irene Handl

Gender : Female

Character Name : Bobby Mome-Rath

Original Name : Ian Carmichael

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jeremy Tove

Original Name : Jeremy Lloyd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Toni

Original Name : Toni Palmer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Irishman

Original Name : George A. Cooper

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dominic

Original Name : Peter Jones

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cafe Boss

Original Name : Arthur Mullard

Gender : Male

Character Name : 1st Waiter

Original Name : Ronnie Stevens

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sweeney Todd Manager

Original Name : John Clive

Gender : Male

Character Name : Caretaker

Original Name : David Lodge

Gender : Male

Character Name : 1st Exquisite

Original Name : Murray Melvin

Gender : Male

Character Name : 2nd Exquisite

Original Name : Paul Danquah

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tramp

Original Name : Sydney Bromley

Gender : Male

Character Name : DJ

Original Name : Mike Lennox

Gender : Male

Character Name : Custard Pie Vicar

Original Name : Cardew Robinson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Demolished Old Lady

Original Name : Amy Dalby

Gender : Female

Character Name : Tove's Secretary

Original Name : Valerie Leon

Gender : Female

Character Name : Builder

Original Name : Geoffrey Hughes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Actress at Movie Premiere

Original Name : Veronica Carlson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hall Porter (uncredited)

Original Name : Howard Marion-Crawford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Beatnik (uncredited)

Original Name : David Essex

Gender : Male

Character Name : Clive Sword

Original Name : Bruce Lacey

Gender : Male

Character Name : 2nd Waiter

Original Name : Ray Mackin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Workman in Café

Original Name : Sam Kydd

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Brenda Kempner

Gender : Female

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-11-26

The timid "Brenda" (Rita Tushingham) and her more brash mate "Yvonne" (Lynn Redgrave) arrive in London determined to make it big. Pretty quickly, though, they find themselves at odds with each other as success visits the latter whilst the former ends up working in a greasy spoon. Several food fights later, they realise that perhaps it's better to work together, but after some brief success fleecing the wealthy - like the posh "Mone-Rath" (Ian Carmichael) a real opportunity presents itself. "Yvonne" wins £10,000 on one of those "you have to laugh" television shows where they demolish your house as a surprise for you coming home from work, and then you're meant to giggle about it. She decides to invest the cash in a record deal, and with her pal in tow as her assistant, she finds herself with an hit on her hands and the talk of the town. It's this bit that rather livens the film up as it delivers an entertainingly savage swipe at the whole faux nature of show-business. The endless spongers and hangers-on, the executives - in this case the smarmy "Jeremy" (Jeremy Lloyd) - who are out for themselves, and the party-goers who live their lives for the moment. It all comes to an head in the revolving restaurant of London's Post Office tower where, yep, more food gets flung. Musical impresario George Melly was behind quite a lot of this, and you can appreciate his jazzy-style on the soundtrack as the story stays just about on the right side of farce. The two women work quite well together and though the script isn't much to write home about, the film works better than I was expecting as a piece of 1960s satire on the working class, sexuality, fashion, aspiration and the fickleness of the music business. There are some fun scenes around Carnaby Street too!